Changing
by Rambunctious-popcorn
Summary: Hayley Cooper. 15 years old, orphan, shapeshifter, fugitive of the law. Failing at low-profile, she grabs the Cullens unwanted attention, and they become determined to uncover her secrets...Rated T because im nervous. First ever FanFic. Hope you like it.
1. Change

**this is my first ever fanfic, sorry if you hate it, it hasnt really been twilighted yet but the twilightiness is on its way...**

**i dont own twilight by the way...i wish i did but all twilight stuff is stephenie meyers and so on.  
i hate naming things, so sorry about the title. some alternatives were "the girl who killed her father moved to forks and failed the maths test" or "the story about a girl who did stuff that made other stuff happen", among others.  
please dont be too viscious in reviewing, its my first one, but please do review.**

**The Changing Season.**

The freezing rain hammered the flimsy roof of her tent, and she snuggled gratefully into the fur-lined sleeping bag. It was always a mystery to her when she over heard people said they hated the rain. Over heard, because she barely ever had conversations with people lasting more than a few sentences, and some times even these brief exchanges were nasty comments on their part and quiet defense on hers. But as quiet as her responses were, her head was clamoring with fury and demands that she teach that bitch a lesson.

She never acted on them.

Oh, how she wanted to act. Her father would be furious, and most likely beat her, and her mother would look on with a sad disappointment that made her heart ache.

Of course, if ever there was something that could stop Hayley Cooper, it was her mother. Just 15, she was acutely aware that her mother's time was running out. Cancer had attacked her lungs, and she was slowly dying in their home, because her mother's fear of hospital was intense and non-relenting. Hayley had begged and pleaded for her mother to seek medical help, and by the time her mother had called a house doctor, the cancer had manifested until it couldn't be safely removed.

Her fathers drinking had increased, and he often came home to pass out on the couch, not even making it up the stairs to his bed. If you got in his way while he was less than a zombie but more than slightly intoxicated, he would beat you until he got bored, and then leave you on the floor with blood running from your mouth. Hayley knew from experience.

Sometimes, after he had beaten her senseless, she would be filled with rage and pain, so she would walk quietly to her room, collect a bag of necessities and climb out her window. There were some nearby woods that held a convenient cave where she could store a tent and sleeping bag, so they would be dry and ready for when she needed them. She needed them often, so she was glad she had found it.

As Hayley thought about her father, rage swamped her mind, and her hands shook with the need to tear something to shreds.

She diverted her train of thought to something by far more fascinating. Since she had been about seven, (coincidentally about the time her father had first hit her) Hayley had been able to completely change her body into that of an animal. The first time she had changed, she had been terrified, leaping out her window without thinking, then almost having a heart attack when she realized she had just leapt out of a two story building. She had hit the ground on her feet, and the jolt was barely anything. At that second she had been to preoccupied with exploding out of her skin to be too concerned about the landing, but she had later marveled at the feeling. She had raced through the streets of the quiet town, heading towards a smell that seemed strangely reassuring. When she had reached it she realized she had been speeding towards the forest, and she had slowed to a jumpy walk.

Hayley smiled at the memory, thinking of the thrill of being completely Other, racing through the forest on all fours, or flying over the town on steady wings. She loved to fly, but was always petrified that she would at any given moment be sucked into a jet engine or abruptly transform and fall out of the sky. If she fell and survived, she would be naked and she often wondered how she would explain that.

Deciding it was worth getting rained on; Hayley wriggled out of the sleeping bag and quickly undressed, careful not to jostle the bruises her father had given her. She shivered a little in the cold night air and took a deep breath to steady herself. She decided on a large dog, not particularly wanting to hunt but to run. If she wanted to hunt, she changed into a panther, wolf or bear. Sometimes a rabbit if she was feeling vegetabely inclined.

She focused on the image of the German Shepherd, concentrating on the way her body would move through the damp undergrowth, the way her nose could pick out every individual scent and she could hear the hushed forest sounds. Suddenly Hayley felt the heat rush out from her heart, and her body folded in on itself, and she could feel the brief pain of her skin ripping and her bones cracking into the pattern of a smaller, lighter skeleton. The moment of pain was over and Hayley twisted her head to inspect herself.

_Not bad, _she thought as her vision adjusted slightly. The blue fabric of the tent dulled slightly, but the shadows brightened. She shook her black coat and trotted out of the tent, casting around with her nose to find anything interesting. There was nothing much, so she took off into the wood, racing low and fast.

Deciding to see what was happening at her house; she slowed and turned around to head back to the housing estates.

Hayley's sensitive ears pricked as she trotted across the road. She could hear something very faint. She sped up a little, her concern growing as she realized it was screaming. Her heart leapt into her throat as she very faintly heard her fathers name amidst the screaming. Hayley suddenly lurched forward and pushed herself as fast as she could.

Dread was filling her as she confirmed the terrible screaming was coming form her own home.

Hayley barreled through the back door, just as the screaming stopped. Her claws scrabbled for purchase on the linoleum floor, and she crashed into the table, sending the chairs flying. Her nose was picking up alcohol, and blood. Her paws finally righted themselves, and she scrambled as quickly and quietly as she could to the kitchen door.

She could hear sirens, and they were getting closer. Hayley knew she couldn't stick around once they got here so she hurriedly located her father. He was upstairs, in her mother's room. Hayley's heart plummeted. She could hear her father's heavy breathing and a sick thudding sound. She rounded the corner, and saw her father kneeling next to her mother's prone figure on the floor. His fist was tangled in her hair, and he was smashing her head against the floor.

Hayley went completely numb. She could hear the police car screech to a halt outside, and the doors slam shut. The frantic ringing of the door bell, then the crash as the door splintered under a mans weight.

She snapped out of her numb horror and roared with pain and fury. Her father jerked his body around and focused his bloodshot eyes on Hayley.

The Police thundered up the stairs.

Hayley lurched forward, her grief and rage close to crippling her. She felt like she was suddenly trying to run through honey, and she felt the two police behind her absorb the situation and lunge for her tail. Her father still looked a little confused, and was starting to struggle to his feet as Hayley gathered her muscles and leapt at her father.

She collided with him and landed square on his chest, he landed sprawled on the floor.

There was a pause where everything held still, and Hayley looked into her father's eyes and he looked into hers. She had a moment to think she saw recognition, then horror, and they both knew he was about to die.

Hayley opened her jaws to bare her sharp teeth and lunged forward to clamp her teeth around his throat. She felt his skin tear and blood poured into her mouth as she severed his jugular. She ripped her head sideways and tore her father's throat open.

His blood covered the walls, and her mothers covered the floor.


	2. Forks

**Chapter 2**

Hayley collapsed to the soft ground, exhausted. She had been running for at least three hours straight in the form of a horse, a bag strapped to her back. She felt her body shudder and twist as her bones snapped into a more human structure, and the burning pain of transformation faded as she completed the shift.

Sweat covered her body, and the dirt and fallen leaves stuck to her bare skin. Her lungs heaved, struggling to get enough oxygen, and her heart thundered louder than her hooves had.

Though her body protested, she struggled to her shaking legs. The rope she had used to bind the bag to her body slid to the ground, and she knelt to rummage through it for her clothing. She dressed as quick as she could with her trembling hands, then thumped heavily back to the ground.

Her memory was trying to push something to the forefront of her mind and she was struggling to think of anything but that. She thought desperately of school, shifting, running and flying, but the haunting image of her father's bloody corpse hung in front of her eyes.

_She felt his skin tear and blood poured into her mouth as she severed his jugular…_

Her stomach heaved.

_She ripped her head sideways and tore her father's throat open..._

Hayley leaned to the side and vomited into the mud. There was nothing else in her stomach but still she gagged, and her throat burned with the acid.

_She could hear her father's heavy breathing and a sick thudding sound…_

"No, no, no," Hayley whimpered as the images replayed in her head.

_Her mother's prone figure…_

_Smashing her head against the floor…_

_Tore her father's throat open…_

_His blood covered the walls, and her mothers covered the floor…_

Hayley screamed out loud, her grief swamping her mind until she could barely breathe. She beat her fists on the ground, sobbing loudly and not caring who heard her.

Hayley lifted her head, and she felt the leaves fall of off her face. Her eyes felt as if somebody had scrubbed them with sandpaper.

She coughed, feeling like she had tried to swallow a bucket of nails.

Hayley uncurled and looked around her for the first time. She found she was in a small stretch of trees surrounded by a field, bordered by more trees. They looked like pines, though she couldn't be sure. The ground she had collapsed on the night before was still damp with rain, and it was littered with leaves from some of the smaller trees. Hayley took inventory. She was obviously lost, but she had clothes and a fair bit of money she had collected over the years, sometimes stealing from her father's wallet when he had passed out on the lounge. She was sore from running all night and being sick, but that would pass sooner or later. She was still bruised from her fathers beating, and a small cut over her eyebrow could probably heal before it got infected. She would need food and water, but she could get them when she shifted to hunt. She had the tent for shelter, and the sleeping bag.

The school would most likely note her absence, and it was possible the police could make some sort of connection to her and her father's murder.

So, she would have to find a school to enroll in, and keep the teachers from finding out she was an orphan and living in a tent by herself.

Right. Easy.

Hayley sighed and considered the fact that she was now an orphan. It would definitely be difficult to manage, but she was confident she could manage.

She stood and collected her things, wondering which direction she should go. She chose to continue in the direction she had been running. Hayley was slightly uncomfortable walking through the open field; harboring the uncomfortable feeling she was being watched. She glanced around uneasily, but kept walking.

After a while, she heard the familiar sound of a highway, and she headed towards it. As she emerged by the side of the road, she looked both ways, searching for a road sign. She saw one down the road in the direction she had been headed. She could see it was the entrance to a town.

The sign read: WELCOME TO FORKS.

"Forks," She murmured "sounds good."

Hayley ambled back into the forest.

As Hayley crossed over the boundary to Forks, she was hit by the strong scent of wolf. But not quite wolf. She blinked, astonished.

"Well, shit." Hayley gave a startled laugh. They either had some freaky crossbreeding going on here, or there was a group of shifters here. Pack? Colony?

Hayley had thought she was the only one, and now there was a whole bunch.

Suddenly Hayley was wary. If they were a pack, they wouldn't take kindly to a strange shifter intruding on their territory. She remembered the watched feeling she had had, and she was willing to bet that if she searched she would find the same scent there.

Which meant they were probably still watching. She froze. She ranged her hearing as far as she could, but she could only hear the soft noises of the birds around her… why weren't the birds louder? Hayley spread her hands in front of her to show they were empty and took a cautious step backwards, making as little noise as possible. She felt stupid and dropped her hands. She stepped out side the Forks boundary and let out the breath she had been holding. She turned and walked briskly back to the road, crossing when she was sure no cars were within viewing distance. Hayley continued walking until she felt safer, and approached the border again. There was no Not-wolf this time. She edged nervously into the trees, and listened hard. The forest noises were normal now, and she relaxed marginally. After another hour of walking, she had figured out where the town houses started. She walked back into the forest until the car sounds had just faded from her hearing. Set up the tent and her sleeping area then undressed and morphed into a small black cat.

Her animals were almost always black or deep brown, to match her hair. She had decided that a completely black parrot was rather disconcerting, so she tended to keep to animals that were naturally dark.

As the little black cat, she trotted out onto the sidewalk.

_There has to be a main road somewhere _she thought.

She searched around until she found it, then followed it to the centre of town. Pleased with herself, she located the school. The last person was leaving, and she trotted over to see if she could sneak inside. She couldn't, but she managed to make out a poster on the wall that had the schools number on it. She memorized it and jumped down from the window.

_Time to explore! _She thought with glee. She hoped she didn't meet any children. _Squishing my face and pulling my tail. Yuck._ She hated finding children when she was something cute, they tended to try and keep her. She had been stuck once for an hour at an eight year olds birthday, being passed around and smeared with cake. She shuddered and hurried on past the park.

Hayley trotted through the town, noting where the shops were and trying to memorize the street names., the houses started to thin and she thought about turning back, but there was nothing else to do so she kept trotting along.

As she came to the end of the houses, she peered down the road at a white rectangle hidden behind some leaves…a letterbox? She wandered over and read the tag, difficult from her height. She sat up on her hind legs. CULLEN was spelled in gold letters fixed to the side. There was a strange scent here too, but drastically different from the not-wolf. She inhaled deeply. It was a mixture of lots of pleasant things, and she noted lavender, jasmine, rising bread, sunlight and coffee. She wondered what all these things were doing by the side of the road.

Curious, she trotted down the long driveway. No lights were on, but she could hear low voices and whispers of movement. A sleepover? She tended to avoid sleepovers, but these voices sounded more mature. She walked to the window and leapt upon the sill.


	3. Curiosity Killed the Cat

**ok, so this chapter is where the cullens get introduced (surprise, surprise) i didnt actually know where this bit was going, but i think it did good.  
thankyou to Jess and Hannah, who are good to be keeping the radioactive lettuce strapped to Naked's back.  
and by the way Hannah, i really hope you didnt go to the trouble of searching for that treasure on the crunchy nut corn flake box.**

Chapter 3

Peering inside, she mewed. There was a silence. Had all of them heard that?

"Was that a cat?" a deep voice asked.

"I don't know. It sounded like a cat. Go check." This was a smooth voice with a slightly Texan drawl.

There was a flash of movement in front of Hayley and a handsome face appeared directly in front of her. She squeaked and jumped backwards, tumbling of the windowsill and landing with a thump on her feet. Deep Voice chuckled.

"It's a cat. It fell of the windowsill." Deep Voice murmured. Surely they can't hear him from there? But then there was another flash and the most beautiful girl Hayley had ever seen was standing beside Deep Voice. Her perfect blonde hair tumbled over her designer-clad shoulders, and her perfect face wore a slightly puzzled expression. Her eyes were a warm golden colour, and Hayley noticed It was almost exactly the same shade as the mans.

"What is it doing here, Emmet?" said a new voice, and this voice reminded Hayley of soft sunshine and lavender.

"Why don't you ask?" Said Emmett in a sarcastic tone.

Another person opened the door, and Hayley was careful not to drool. He was tall, or at least to a cat, and his bronze hair looked as if it had been blasted with wind. He was absolutely with out a doubt the most beautiful boy she had ever seen. But Hayley's attention was snatched away by another flash and she began to realize these weren't normal people. Now a short girl crouched in front of her, and Hayley registered the intense excitement on her face.

"It's a kitten!!!" she exclaimed "We have a kitten!!"

Woops.

Hayley turned to leap away, but the girls freezing hands caught her and lifted her up. For a kitten, this was awfully high up and Hayley mewed in distress. The short girl patted her head softly and shushed her.

"Jasper!! Come meet the newest Cullen!!" the girl sang, and another person ambled out the door, and he was just as exquisite as the others. His honey blonde hair hung just long enough to be cute, and his eyes were a slightly darker gold. His skin, like the others was extremely pale, and Hayley wondered if they were sick.

Jasper smiled lovingly at Shorty. "Alice, we couldn't keep a cat here. Somebody might…have an accident."

Hayley giggled, and was surprised to hear it come out as a coughing purr. She wondered what he meant by 'have an accident'. Maybe one of them had a weak bladder? She giggled again and Alice stroked her ears.

It was extremely awkward for Hayley, being held like this. Snuggling into Alice's chest was not her ideal location, and she looked at the bronze-haired boy. She was in no position to choose, however, and Alice carried her through the door. As she passed Jasper, they leaned to kiss and Hayley felt even more awkward. She hooked her claws into jaspers shirt, disturbed when she found he was just as frozen as Alice. Jasper looked down at her and she mewed pitifully. Emmett chuckled.

A strange emotion flitted through Jaspers eyes, almost like suspicion, and then he shook his head dismissively. Bronze-Hair looked at him with surprise, and Hayley began to think they were all very ill. Alice passed the Bronze-Haired one and Hayley lunged. Alice let her jump, and Hayley landed on Bronze-Hair's arm.

She heard the others chuckle.

"Finally, a girl for Edward!" one of them exclaimed, and the others laughed. Edward scowled.

She dug her claws into his arm, and they had no effect. His skin was freezing. She shuddered. It was as hard as marble.

She was intensely creeped out now, and she looked into Edwards eyes. He blinked and looked at her intently.

"I think…I heard something." He murmured. The others were instantly silent, and Emmett and Jasper stood up straighter and looked into the trees. I wondered at their reaction. They were all definitely different from any normal human teenagers she had ever met.

"No," he muttered, looking faintly embarrassed. "From the cat."

Hayley jumped when Emmett roared with laughter.

"You can read the cats mind? Eddie, we need to find you a woman."

Edward growled. And not the human approximation of a growl. This was an animal growl, guttural and dangerous.

Hayley's fur stood on end and she hissed instinctively.

She had to get out of there. There was something intensely wrong about these people, and she was sure they were not human.

"Emmett. I felt something too, when it was on my skin." Jasper defended Edward. The group of people turned to fix their eyes on the terrified little black cat.

"Edward can read its mind and Jasper felt it too. What did it feel?" Emmett turned to Jasper.

"It was too quick, and muffled too, but it felt like it was embarrassed, and a little scared."

They turned back to Hayley.

"What did you hear Edward?"

"Like Jasper said, it was muffled. There was lots of static, but I picked up the words cold and away, and something else I didn't quite catch."

There was a tense silence.

"So it's a shifter like the wolves?" Hayley started and looked at Emmett. The wolves? They knew about the shifter pack. So that pretty much pointed out they were not human. Then what were they?

"So we have a werekitten? Seriously?"

"We can't keep it if it's a shifter, Emmett. That's kidnapping."

"But its fun kidnapping."

Edward sighed. "We have to call Carlisle."

The others nodded and carried Hayley inside. Edward set her on the table and Emmett grinned at her.

Hayley tucked her legs under her body, eyeing Emmett suspiciously.

As Edward pulled a small silver mobile from his pocket, Emmett reached over and pulled Hayley closer to him.

"Hello kitty," he said in his rumbling voice. His sweet breath rolled over Hayley's face and she almost purred. His breath was so sweet, and it had the wonderful scent of rising bread and fresh rain. He looked her in the eyes.

"Emmett, stop trying to hypnotize the cat. Person." The blonde reprimanded him.

"Rosalie, would I do a thing like that?" he asked her with an angelic smile.

"Yes, you would. Leave it alone."

Emmett sighed and took his hand away from her back. Hayley blinked. He had tried to hypnotize her. And it had damn near worked. She shook herself and growled at him slightly. His grin got bigger.

"Carlisle."

_Edward? Is there a problem?_

Hayley concentrated so she could hear the other side of the conversation.

"Not an immediate one. There is a cat here."

There was a pause._ And?_

"It's not a normal cat. We think it's a shifter."

_Where did it come from?_

"We don't know. It was on the windowsill, and Jasper and I could only sense it after it had been in contact with our skin. Even then it was not entirely clear."

There was a thoughtful pause. _I will be home in 10 minutes. Keep it there._

"Of course." Edward snapped the phone shut and turned to sit at the table. Hayley stood uncomfortably in the middle. All eyes were fixed on her. she wondered if she should do something cat like so they would let her go. But licking her own bum was just as unappealing as it would be if she was inhuman form. So she curled up in a ball and started purring.

After a few minutes: "Is it a girl or boy?" Emmett wondered aloud.

Oh Dear God.

Hayley leapt up sprang for the edge of the table. Faster than a cobra strike, a white hand flashed out and grabbed her around the middle.

**please tell me what you thought and feel free to review and drop any suggestion to me. and how can i read the reviews?**


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